The Teardrops On My Guitar
I love this record by Hoku.
Wait, wait a minute, don’t disappear! Hang in there! Listen to my story!
I’m not a dirty old man. Well, maybe I am. But the appeal isn’t Hoku herself, who is now on her way to thirty, but her record, not only her single, her whole damn album released in 2000.
I remember having lunch with Jeff Gold, when he was head of marketing at Warner Brothers, back in 1990. When I asked him what he listened to, he said pop, he liked Madonna.
And I like some of those Madonna records too. The ones from "True Blue". "La Isla Bonita" and "Live To Tell". But I prefer the sixties stuff, a whole movie, a whole symphony in three minutes. A whole range of emotions. Beach Boys tracks that take you away, not only to your room, but your car, the beach, places where you’re not affected by the bullshit of society and just feel GOOD!
I’ve never forgotten that long ago conversation. I wasn’t on Jeff’s team that day. I was truly into the hipper stuff, the more innovative stuff. But I’ve come to realize that if you can work within the constraints of pop music and succeed, your triumph oftentimes exceeds the triumphs of…Triumph, or for that matter Rush or even U2.
Oh, I love those album tracks from "Achtung Baby". But "Beautiful Day" is not in the league of "Another Dumb Blonde".
It starts off like the rising sun. With synth awakenings.
And then Hoku breathily starts telling her story…
I think that it’s time that I should just let you go
So I’ll tell it to your face instead of tell it to you on the phone
Now there’s honesty, not the platitudes of rockers clad in leather. How do you dump them? In e-mail? Or just ignore them? Or do you confront them with your complaints?
Interesting dilemma.
And as the story unfolds, as the song builds, you’re caught up in a wave. You’re at Malibu, in the surf, riding headlong towards the beach. You’re in the moment.
But what pushes the song over the top, what seals the deal, is the Beatles’ trick…the bridge!
You want just a little trophy hangin’ on your arm
So all your friends will see you got it goin’ on
But I see what you are so clearly
But baby, baby, that’s not all that you need
Oh, ain’t that the story! The guys, who are all about appearances! That’s Hollywood!
And then the song explodes in an orgy of sound. The finally free Hoku is singing from deep in her heart, the instruments are cascading, the wave is breaking, you’ve got only one option, to play the damn song again!
And now, seven years later, I’ve found another Hoku, with a companion to "Another Dumb Blonde". "Teardrops On My Guitar" is a ballad, not an exuberant rocker. But, it’s got the same teenage honesty, the kind that haunts you your whole life.
Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won’t see
That I want and I’m needing everything that we should be
I’ll bet she’s beautiful, that girl he talks about
And she’s got everything that I have to live without
The personalization! "Drew"! That’s probably Taylor Swift’s complete contribution to this composition, but it makes the difference. While established pop stars sing platitudes, Taylor has let us into her life, her bedroom, her innermost thoughts, with her very first word!
Oh, it’s so terrible to have a crush. Especially when you feel it’s unrequited. And if you tell them and they don’t feel the same way, the relationship is ruined, you can never be friends again.
Drew talks to me, I laugh ’cause it’s so damn funny
That I can’t even see anyone when he’s with me
He says he’s so in love, he’s finally got it right,
I wonder if he knows he’s all I think about at night
Oh, she’s not acting for him. Everything he says truly does make her laugh. Because she’s in love with him.
Love. It’s something that first happens to you when you’re ten or eleven. Oh, you’ve had feelings for your teacher prior to this. But suddenly when you’re in the presence of a girl you get butterflies, the moistness above her lip has your stomach doing backflips. You’re possessed. There are no tricks you can employ to keep her out of your mind. It’s driving you crazy. How long will this last? If you just blurt out your feelings will she look you in the eye and say she agrees or does that just happen in movies?
He’s the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star
He’s the song in the car I keep singing, don’t know why I do
It took me over a month to truly appreciate "Teardrops On My Guitar"’s magic. It seemed sing-songy. It seemed the work of another barely pubescent country act. Until in the car today I had a eureka moment. When I heard the last line quoted above. A song you keep singing? That’s the magic of music, isn’t it? The way it penetrates you and you can’t get rid of it. A song percolates and then repeats itself in your mind for days. Sometimes one you love, sometimes one you hate. Yes, you’ve heard that song too many times. Like Billy Preston’s "Will It Go Round In Circles". I hated it, but then I couldn’t get it out of my brain.
Drew walks by me, can he tell that I can’t breathe?
And there he goes, so perfectly,
The kind of flawless I wish I could be
The wind is knocked out of you. Just thinking of her makes your heart skip a beat. But when she truly appears in the distance, your first instinct is to run. So you don’t reveal how geeky and imperfect you are. And even if your ultimate conversation is reasonable, you constantly debate in your head whether you fucked it up, the only way to break the spell is to run into her again, to get another chance. But each chance tears at your heart, takes a little piece of your soul. If only she would be with you. She’s perfect. The shine of her hair, her smile, she’s more magical than any movie star, and she’s here, in the flesh.
It was only today that I made the Hoku/Taylor Swift connection. It was the vocal. But it’s also the vitality. The feeling of being alive. We get older and we lose our optimism, our hope. But it’s this awakening of our inner feelings that make us feel alive. Oftentimes we’re dead inside, beaten down by society. Then a song comes on the radio, and we’re sixteen all over again.
Hoku
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